Savall's Eroica for preview and download

[PerfectWagnerite]

In another thread some of you said you wanted to hear Savall's Eroica. Here are all 4 movements plus the Coriolan Overture. Enjoy. Don't worry, they are complete, I put preview in the title of the thread only. They are in convenient MP3 format so I shouldn't hear too many complaints about sound quality.


The links to the copyright material have been removed. Links to complete pieces of work within copiright, or that is available to purchase, are against the Board rules. I have saved the links elsewhere, so that if I have misunderstood the nature of the links provided, I will restore them. However, if there is no reason to restore them, I will delete them altogether.


Mike

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

As a Beethoven lover I'm always interested in performances I don't know. So - thanks, PW!

[M forever]

Don't worry, they are complete, I put preview in the title of the thread only.

Do you think the FBI is fooled that easily? 

They are in convenient MP3 format so I shouldn't hear too many complaints about sound quality.

Well, you could have given them to us in lossless 

Thanks a lot. I alread got the recording in the meantime from another member who may wish to remain anonymous to keep the FBI off his trail. I listened to it a bit, but not enough yet to comment.

One question at this point: does the booklet list the number of players per part, maybe even what instruments they play? I am wondering what kind of horns they play, they sound really odd.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Yeah, says here (with names also but you probably don't care) 18 violins, 6 violas, 5 celli, 3 contrabass, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 trumpets, 3 natural horns (cors naturels), 2 bassoons, and 1 percussion.

It doesn't say whether the trumpets are valveless are not but it says that during Beethoven's time trumpets and horns were valveless and that they(Savall and gang) have not tried to modify their sound. So I guess trumpets they use in this recording are valveless also?

The horn sounds pretty shrill to me compared to other HIP ensembles.

[M forever]

That may be because of those mediocre headphones you praised the other day 

Actually, the horns sound pretty muffled, almost choked, but what makes them sound a little strange here is the extremely short and sharp attack they employ throughout, probably for "safety" reasons. It sounds to me like they are playing on very wide mouthpieces, like many American orchestras. That makes them easier to play but also gives them that trumpety quality. That the horns are basically natural horns is pretty obvious though from the color of the sound and the stopped notes, and the trumpets are definitely of the valveless "fanfare" kind as you can hear even on the very first notes from the characteristically brittle attack.

I was wondering whether the actual type and make of instruments are listed in the booklet, as is often the case with "HIP" recordings.

[FideLeo]

I was wondering whether the actual type and make of instruments are listed in the booklet, as is often the case with "HIP" recordings.

No. 

[PerfectWagnerite]

That may be because of those mediocre headphones you praised the other day 

Oh yeah, huh huh. I am getting new headphones, 595s to be exact. So we'll see

Hmm, don't see any names of the instrument makers though.

What do you think about the strings? They are smallish sounding for 18 violins don't you think?

[M forever]

Not necessarily. That can depend very much on how it's recorded. The recording does not do the interpretation too many favors. It's a little too up close and congested. It is nice to hear all the crisply articulated detail in the strings, but there is no sense of space in the sound, as if the players were all crowded in one small space or piled on top of each other.
That appears to be mostly intentional though. They tried to make the recording sound very "brilliant" and have a lot of "impact". Typical venues of the time were rather reverberant though, but that kind of atmoshpere is lacking here.

I thought this was supposed to recreate the conditions of the premiere, but apparently not. They had even less strings on that occasion.
The balance within the string sections is "incorrect" though. Typical string sections at that time, no matter how big they were in absolute numbers, had more lower end. An appropriate balance would have been something like 9 - 9 - 5 - 5 - 5 (or 4) or similar. Or, less violins to begin with, e.g. 5 - 5 - 3 - 3- 3/2.

Oh yeah, huh huh. I am getting new headphones, 595s to be exact. So we'll see

I am glad you saw the light. Now all you need is just new ears. Dunno where you can order these though 
0:)

[PerfectWagnerite]

I am glad you saw the light. Now all you need is just new ears. Dunno where you can order these though 
0:)

Uhhh, ebay? There is always someone selling organs once in a while

Actually Savall said in the booklet that during B's time the balance is like 5-5-3-3-3 like you said, not sure why he up the violins numbers for this recording.

[PerfectWagnerite]

And how much better are 595 than 555?

[M forever]

37.89% better.